Sunday, May 21, 2006

The Company of Women

Every year since 2003, one of my cousins has organized a DivaFest -- a week of vacation with just girlfriends, lying on the beach and enjoying the company, along with good food, good wine, creative cocktails, and wonderful conversation.

This year was the first time I had an invitation to join them, and I did feel some trepidation around going. I'm a writer, after all, and spend most of my days alone with a story. What would happen when I showed up at a DivaFest of 11 women where the only 2 women I knew were cousins I hadn't seen in years?

The answer: I'd have the time of my life!

There are a couple of reasons for this, I think.

The first, and most important, is that I had no expectations about any part of it -- how I thought things would go, who I would meet, whether I'd like them or not, or whether they'd like me or not. Better yet, they seemed to have no expectations of me, either. I just had to show up, and the energy surrounding these lovely, creative, funny, engaging women was enough to float us all on a tide of goodwill and enjoyment.

The second thing is that women in largish groups have a different energy from mixed sex company, especially when there’s a decent supply of rum involved. We did the whole "girl-dancing" thing at a neat dive bar, which was very liberating for little ole reserved me, and it was all about having fun. None of us were trolling for men, so "performance" wasn't an issue or a worry. (Though we did inadvertently catch two or three!)

I feel very blessed to have been a part of such a fun crowd for the four days I could get away to attend DivaFest. I came away feeling energized and motivated and empowered. Now, if we could only bottle this power and take a sip every now and then on the tough days!

Or maybe we should arrange more day-to-day Diva events -- a DivaConferenceCall or a DivaDinner or a DivaNight -- to keep that unique female energy flowing.

What do you do to connect and reconnect with the women in your life?

2 comments:

Gail Dayton said...

I'd love to connect with my sisters more. Just "us girls." Unfortunately, one lives a 10-hour drive to the south and the other lives about 16 hours to the north. I don't even talk to them on the phone enough. Hardly at all. You make me want to call them...

Sandra K. Moore said...

These days, it seems to take a Herculean effort to stay connected, doesn't it? Especially given your situation, with sisters so far away from each other! I find myself having to think hard about what I want to do and with whom because it's so easy to fill up my time with... stuff. Maybe I should start spring cleaning for the soul!